Lest  We   Forget 

By 

David  Starr  Jordan 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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Leland   Stanford   Junior   University  Publications' 


"LEST  WE  FORGET" 


An  Address  Delivered  Before  the  Graduating  Class  of  1898 

Li: land  Stanford  Jr.  University 

on 

May  25,  1898 


By    DAVID  STARR  JORDAN 
President  of  the  Vhwernty 


L.T8HED     roa      IHl.     .M\l.ll.MTY     I.V     TIIK    COURTESY     OF 

JOHN   .1.    VALENTINE,    ESQ. 

PALO    ALIO.    <  AUI'iKNIA 
I",  I8b8. 


Leland  Stanford  Junior   University  Publications 


"LEST  WE  FORGET" 


An  Address  Delivered  Before  the  Graduating  Class  of  1898 

Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University 

on 

May  25,  1898 


By   DAVID  STARR  JORDAN 
President  of  the  University 


•     -  «  .  •         •  •  • 

•    .  •     "        •   "  .      -      ' 


PUBLI8HJBD    FOR    THE    DOTVBB8ITY    BY    THE   COURTESY    OF 

JOHN   J.    VALENTINE,    ESQ. 

PALO   ALTO,  CALIFOBJU  \ 
AUOOtT  LO,  i- 


PRESS  OF 
S.  CROCKER  COMPANY  ^ 
SAN   FRANCISCO  .# 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


o* 


[-r         The  present  address  was  delivered  before  the  graduat- 
P*.    ing  class  of  Lelaiid  Stanford,  Jr.  University  in  connection 
><  with  the  granting  of  degrees,  on  May  25,  1898.     It  is  pub- 
;  lished  in  the  present  form  through  the  kindly  interest  of 
Jj  Mr.  John  J.  Valentine,  of  San  Francisco.     It  is  here  re- 
printed as  delivered  with  a  few  slight  verbal  changes 
only,  although  the  movement  of  events  has  shifted  the 
m  perspective  of  some  matters  under  discussion. 

I  may  add  one  further  word.     It  is  a  fundamental  tenet 

—  of  democracy   that   "  government  must   derive  its  just 

lu  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."     For  the  time 

being,     government     may     have     another    justification, 

namely,  thai   it  is  good  government,  and  being  good — 

just,  economical  and  dignified — it  may  acquire  in  time 

>j  the  consent  of  the  governed.     The  good  government  of 

_i 

uj  careless  and  lawless  races  is  the  foundation  ami  the  iusti- 

^  fication  of  British  imperialism.     Imperialism  is  a  diffi- 

cull  art,  acquired    by    long    practice,  and  through  the 

6  experience  of  many  failures.     The  secret  of  England's 

surreys  lies  in  the  lessen  of  resped  for  law,  a  lesson 
America  in  her  reaction  of  national  Independence  has 
half  forgotten.  To  teach  respect  for  law  is  Great  Brit- 
ain's civic  mission.  To  teach  reaped  for  the  individual 
man  has  been  the  mission  of  America. 


**.*  }%j  k    2  "W 


It  is  a  common  saying  in  these  clays  that  on  whatever 
shores  the  Stars  and  Stripes  has  been  raised,  it  will  never 
be  hauled  down.  This  saying  would  be  more  worthy  of 
respect  if  coupled  with  another,  namely,  that  wherever 
the  American  flag  may  fly  it  will  bring  good  government, 
respect  for  man,  and  respect  for  law.  To  reach  this,  we 
must  turn  over  a  new  leaf.  Our  record  thus  far  in 
colonial  matters  has  been  one  of  waste  and  neglect. 
Spain  lost  her  colonies  because  she  treated  them  much  as 
we  have  treated  our  own  colony  of  Alaska.  "Compulsory 
Imperialism,"  we  are  told,  the  extension  of  civilization 
under  the  lead  of  happy  chance  and  "  Manifest  Destiny," 
is  the  next  stage  in  the  development  of  the  United  States. 
Probably  this  is  true,  but,  if  so,  we  must  not  forget  that 
dominion  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  glories,  and  of  these 
the  duties  are  most  numerous  as  well  as  most  insistent. 
We  must  take  lessons  in  respect  for  law  from  the  only 
nation  (save  thrifty  Holland)  whose  foreign  possessions 
have  been  other  than  a  source  of  weakness  and  corrup- 
tion. The  loss  of  her  colonies  may  mark  the  civil  and 
moral  awakening  of  Spain.  Let  us  trust  that  the  same 
event  may  not  bring  moral  and  political  decay  to  the 
nation  which,  most  unwillingly,  inherits  Spain's  bank- 
rupt assets. 

David  Starr  Jordan. 

Palo  Alto,  Santa  Clara  County,  Gal., 
August  10,  1898. 


'LEST  WE  FORGET.''   . 


Members  of  the  Graduating  Class  of  1898: 

As  educated  men  and  women,  in  your  hands  lies  the 
future  of  the  State.  It  is  for  you  and  such  as  you  to  work 
out  the  problems  of  democracy.  This  is  my  justification 
in  speaking  to  you  of  the  present  crisis.  For  a  great 
world  crisis  is  on  us,  and  this  year  of  1898  may  mark  one 
of  the  three  great  epochs  in  our  history. 

Twice  before  in  our  national  life  have  we  stood  in  the 
presence  of  a  great  crisis.  Twice  before  have  we  come 
to  the  parting  of  the  ways,  and  twice  has  our  choice  been 
controlled  by  wise  counsel. 

The  first  crisis  followed  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
Its  question  was  this:  What  relation  shall  the  eman- 
cipated colonies  bear  to  one  another?  The  answer  was 
the  American  Constitution,  the  federation  of  self-govern- 
ing and  united  states. 

The  second  crisis  came  through  the  growth  of  slav- 
ery. The  union  of  the  states  "could  not  endure,  half 
slave,  half  free."  The  emancipation  proclamation  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  marked  our  decision  thai  the  Union 
should  endure;  and  thai  all  that  made  for  division  should 
be  swept  away. 

The  third  great  crisis  is  <>n  us  now.  The  war  with 
Spain  is  only  ;i  part  of  it.  The  question  is  not :  Can  we 
capture  Manila,  Havana,  Porto  Rico  or  the  Canaries?  it 
is  not  what  we  <:in  take  or  what  we  can  hold.  The 
American  navy  and  tin*  American  army  can  accomplish 
all  we  ash  of  them  with  time  and  patience. 


8 

Battles  are  fought  to-day  through  engineering  and 
technical  skill,  not  through  physical  dash.  The  great 
cannon  speaks  the  language  of  science,  and  individual 
courage  is  helpless  before  it.  The  standing  of  our  naval 
officers  in  matters  of  engineering  is  beyond  question. 
There  are  a  hundred  nameless  lieutenants  in  our  war- 
ships who,  if  opportunity  offered,  could  write  their  names 
beside  those  of  Grenville  and  Nelson  and  Farragut  and 
Dewey.  The  glory  of  Manila  is  not  dim  beside  that  of 
Mobile  or  Trafalgar.  The  cool  strength  and  soberness  of 
Yankee  courage,  added  to  the  power  of  naval  engineer- 
ing, could  meet  any  foe  on  earth  on  equal  terms,  and  here 
the  terms  are  not  equal.  Personal  fearlessness  our  ad- 
versaries possess,  and  that  is  all  they  have.  That  we 
have,  too,  in  like  measure.  Everything  else  is  ours.  We 
train  our  guns  against  the  empty  shell  of  a  mediaeval 
monarchy,  broken,  distracted,  corrupt. 

The  war  with  Spain  marks  in  itself  no  crisis.  The 
end  is  seen  from  the  beginning.  It  was  known  to  Spain 
as  clearly  as  to  us.  But  her  government  had  no  recourse. 
They  had  come  to  the  end  of  diplomacy,  and  could  only 
die  fighting.  "  To  die  game "  is  an  old  habit  of  the 
Spaniard.  "  Whatever  else  the  war  may  do,"  says  the 
Spanish  diplomat,  with  pathetic  honesty,  "  it  can  only 
bring  ruin  to  Spain." 

It  is  too  late  for  us  now  to  ask  how  we  got  into  the 
war.  Was  it  inevitable?  Was  it  wise?  Was  it  right- 
eous? We  need  not  ask  these  questions,  because  the 
answers  will  not  help  us.  We  may  have  our  doubts  as  to 
one  or  all  of  these,  but  all  doubts  we  must  keep  to  our- 
selves. We  are  in  the  midst  of  battle,  and  must  fight  to 
the  end.  The  "  rough-riders  "  are  in  the  saddle.  "  What 
though  the  soldier  knew  some  one  had  blundered?"  The 
swifter,  fiercer,  more  glorious  our  attacks,  the  sooner  and 
more  lasting  our  peace.  There  is  no  possible  justification 
for  the  war  unless  we  are  strong  enough  and  swift  enough 
to  bring  it  to  a  speedy  end.     If  America  is  to  be  the 


9 

Knight-errant  of  the  Nations  she  must  be  pure  of  heart 
and  swift  of  foot,  every  inch  a  knight. 

The  crisis  comes  when  the  war  is  over.  What  then? 
Our  question  is  not  what  we  shall  do  with  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico  and  the  Philippines.  It  is  what  these  prizes  will  do 
to  us.  Can  we  let  go  of  them  in  honor  or  in  safety?  If 
not,  what  if  we  hold  them?  What  will  be  the  reflex  effect 
of  great  victories,  suddenly  realized  strength,  the  patron- 
izing applause,  the  ill-concealed  envy  of  great  nations,  the 
conquest  of  strange  territories,  the  raising  of  our  flag  be- 
vond  the  seas?  All  this  is  new  to  us.  It  is  un-American; 
it  is  contrary  to  our  traditions;  it  is  delicious;  it  is  intoxi- 
cating. 

For  this  is  the  fact  before  us.  We  have  come  to  our 
manhood  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  What  shall 
we  do  about  it?  The  war  once  finished,  shall  we  go  back 
to  our  farms  and  factories,  to  our  squabbles  over  tariffs 
and  coinage,  our  petty  trading  in  peanuts  and  postoffiees? 
Or  shall  our  countrv  turn  away  from  these  things  and 
stand  forth  once  for  all  a  great  naval  power,  our  vessels 
in  every  sea,  our  influence  felt  over  all  the  earth?  Shall 
we  be  the  plain  United  States  again,  or  shall  we  be 
another  England,  fearless  even  of  our  own  great  mother, 
second  to  her  only  in  age  and  prestige? 

The  minor  results  of  war  are  matters  of  little  moment 
in  comparison.  Let  us  look  at  a  few  of  them  as  we  pass. 
.Most  of  them  are  not  results  at  all.  The  glow  of  battle 
simply  shows  old  facts  in  new  relation. 

The  war  has  stirred  the  fires  of  patriotism,  we  say. 
I  i  rtainly,  but  they  were  already  there,  else  they  could 
do1  !»<•  stirred.  I  doubt  if  there  is  more  love  of  country 
with  us  to-day  than  there  was  a  year  ago.  Real  love  of 
country  is  not  easily  moved.  Its  guarantee  is  its  per- 
manence. Love  of  adventure,  love  of  tight,  these  are  soon 
kindled.  It  is  these  to  which  the  battle  spirit  appeals. 
Love  of  adventure  we  may  not  despise.  It  is  the  precious 
heritage  <>f  aew  races;  it  is  the  basis  of  personal  courage; 
but  it  is  not  patriotism;  it  is  push.     Love  of  tight  is  not 


10 

in  itself  unworthy.  The  race  which  cannot  fight  if  need 
be,  is  a  puny  folk  destined  to  be  the  prey  of  tyrants.  But 
one  who  fights  for  fight's  sake  is  a  bully,  not  a  hero. 
The  bully  is  at  heart  a  coward.  To  fight  only  when  we 
are  sure  of  the  result,  is  no  proof  of  national  courage. 

Patriotism  is  the  will  to  serve  one's  country;  to  make 
one's  country  better  worth  serving.  It  is  a  course  of 
action  rather  than  a  sentiment.  It  is  serious  rather  than 
stirring.  The  shrilling  of  the  mob  is  not  patriotism.  It 
is  not  patriotism  to  trample  on  the  Spanish  flag,  to  burn 
fire-crackers  or  to  twist  the  Lion's  tail.  The  shrieking 
of  war  editors  is  not  patriotism.  Nowadays,  nations  buy 
newspapers  as  they  buy  ships.  Whatever  is  noisy, 
whether  in  Congress  or  the  pulpit,  or  on  the  streets,  can- 
not be  patriotism.  It  is  not  in  the  galleries  that  we  find 
brave  men.  "  Patriotism,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  is  the  last 
refuge  of  the  scoundrel."  But  he  was  speaking  of  coun- 
terfeit patriotism.  There  could  not  be  a  counterfeit  were 
there  not  also  a  reality. 

But  this  I  see  as  I  watch  the  situation:  True  patri- 
otism declines  as  the  war  spirit  rises.  Men  say  they  have 
no  interest  in  reform  until  the  war  is  over.  There  is  no 
use  of  talking  of  better  financial  methods,  of  fairer  ad- 
justments of  taxes,  of  wiser  administration  of  affairs, 
until  the  war  fever  has  passed  by.  The  patriotism  of  the 
hour  looks  to  a  fight  with  some  other  nation,  not  towards 
greater  pride  in  our  own. 

The  war  has  united  at  last  the  North  and  the  South, 
we  say.  So  at  least  it  appears.  When  Fitzhugh  Lee  is 
called  a  Yankee,  and  all  the  haughty  Lees  seem  proud  of 
the  designation,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  old  lines  of 
division  exist  no  longer.  North  and  South,  East  and 
West,  whatever  our  blood,  birth  or  rank,  we  Yankees 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  1898.  But  our  present 
solidaritv  shows  that  the  nation  was  sound  aireadv,  else 
a  month  could  not  have  welded  it  together. 


11 

It  is  twenty-eight  years  ago  to-day  that  a  rebel  sol- 
dier who  savs — 

"  I  am  a  Southerner, 

I  loved  the  South  and  dared  for  her 

To  fight  from  Lookout  to  the  sea 

With  her  proud  banner  over  me,"  * 

stood  before  the  ranks  of  the  Grand  Army  and  spoke 
these  words: 

"I  stand  and  say  that  you  were  right; 

I  greet  you  with  uncovered  head, 
Remembering  many  a  thundrous  tight, 

When  whistling  deatli  between  us  sped  ; 
I  clasp  the  hand,  that  made  my  scars, 

I  cheer  the  flag  my  foeman  bore, 
I  shout  for  joy  to  see  the  stars 

All  on  our  common  shield  once  more." 

This  was  mure  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  and 
all  this  time  the  great  loyal  South  has  patiently  and  un- 
flinchingly accepted  war's  terrible  results.  It  is  not 
strange,  then,  that  she  shows  her  Loyalty  to-day.  The 
"  Solid  South,"  the  bugaboo  of  politicians,  the  cloak  of 
Northern  venality,  has  passed  away  forever.  The  warm 
response  to  American  courage,  in  whatever  section  or 
party,  in  whatever  trade  or  profession,  shows  that  with 
all  <mr  surface  divisions,  we  of  America  are  one  in  heart. 
The  impartial  bitterness  of  Spanish  hatred  directed  to- 
ward all  classes  and  conditions  of  Anglo-Saxons  alike  em- 
phasizes the  real  unity  of  race  and  nation. 

There  are  some  who  justify  war  lot-  war's  Bake. 
Blood-letting  "relieves  the  pressure  on  the  boundaries." 
It    whets  courage.      It    keeps  the  ape  and   tiger  alive   in 

men.  All  this  is  detestable.  To  waste  good  blood  is  pure 
murder,  if  nothing  is  gained  by  it.  To  let  blood  for 
blood's  sake  is  bad  in  politics  as  it   is  in  medicine.      War 

is  killing,  brutal,  barbarous  killing,  ami  its  dired  effects 

are  mostly  evil.     The  glory  of  war  turns  OUT  attention 

Prom  civic  affairs.  Neglecl  invites  corruption.  Noble 
and  necessary  as  w;is  our  Civil  War,  we  have  net  yel 


12 

recovered  from  its  degrading  influences.  Too  often  the 
courage  of  brave  men  is  an  excuse  for  the  depredations  of 
venal  politicians.  The  glorious  banner  of  freedom  be- 
comes the  cover  for  the  sutler's  tent. 

The  test  of  civilization  is  the  substitution  of  law  for 
war;  statutes  for  brute  strength.  No  doubt  diplomacy, 
as  one  of  our  Senators  has  said,  is  mostly  "  a  pack  of  lies," 
and  arbitration,  as  we  have  known  it,  is  compulsory  and 
arbitrary  compromise.  But  in  the  long  run  truth  will 
out,  even  in  diplomacy.  The  nations  who  suffer  through 
clumsy  and  blundering  tribunals  of  arbitration  will  learn 
from  this  experience.  They  will  find  means,  at  last,  to 
secure  justice  as  well  as  peace.  As  private  war  gave  way 
to  security  under  national  law,  so  must  public  war  give 
way  to  the  law  of  civilization. 

I  hear  men  say  to-day  that  war  is  necessary  to  the 
Kepublic  because  we  need  new  heroes  for  our  worship. 
The  old  heroes  are  getting  stale.  Those  of  the  Revolution 
are  half  mythical.  Washington  and  Greene  were  never 
actually  alive  in  real  flesh  and  blood.  Even  Grant  and 
Sherman,  Lee  and  Jackson,  Thomas  and  Farragut  are 
uames  only  to  most  of  us.  Our  fathers  knew  them,  but 
their's  are  not  names  to  conjure  with  to-day.  The  name 
of  Dewey  fills  a  popular  want.  The  heroes  of  the  news- 
paper in  times  of  peace  are  mere  tinsel  heroes.  Here  is 
one  with  flesh  and  blood  in  him,  a  man  of  nerve  and  cour- 
age and  success. 

All  this  is  true,  but  our  heroes  were  with  us  already. 
In  times  of  peace  they  were  ready  for  heroism.  The  real 
hero  is  the  man  who  does  his  duty.  It  does  not  matter 
whether  his  name  be  on  the  headlines  of  the  newspapers 
or  not.  His  greatness  is  not  enhanced  when  a  street  or  a 
trotting  horse  is  named  for  him.  It  is  the  business  of  the 
Republic  to  make  a  nation  of  heroes.  The  making  of 
brave  soldiers  is  only  a  part  of  the  work  of  making  men. 
The  glare  of  battle  shows  men  in  false  perspective.  To 
one  who  stands  in  its  light  we  give  the  glory  of  a  thous- 


Lo 


and.  But  we  may  applaud  with  the  rest  as  the  great  cap- 
tains pass  before  us.  They  have  earned  their  renown,  yet 
when  "  the  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies,"  still  the  crisis 
remains.     What  effect  must  the  Avar  have  on  us? 

Our  line  of  action  seems  a  narrow  one.  Our  policy 
has  been  fully  declared.  Our  armies  invade  Cuba  to  put 
an  end  to  disorder,  brutality  and  murderous  wrong.  In 
the  words  of  the  resolution  of  Congress: 

"The  ahhorent  conditions  which  have  existed  for  more  than  three  years 
in  the  island  of  Cuba,  so  near  onr  own  borders,  have  shocked  the  moral  sense  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  have  been  a  disgrace  to  Christian  civilization, 
and  cannot  longer  be  endured." 

And  in  recording  the  necessity  which  forces  us  to  act 
we  disclaim  all  selfish  intentions.  Thus  Congress  used 
these  words  which  are  already  part  of  the  record  of  his- 
tory and  which  we  may  not  forget: 

"  The  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any  disposition  or  intention  to 
exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdiction  or  control  over  said  islands  except  for  the 
pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  thai  is  accomplished  to 
leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  island  to  its  people." 

The  wrongs  we  would  avenge  are  not  new  to  Spain. 
By  such  cruellies  she  has  always  held  her  possessions. 
By  such  means  she  has  lost  most  of  them.  Flanders, 
.Mexico,  Peru,  Venezuela,  Chili,  Cuba,  all  tell  the  same 
story.  Spain  still  belongs  to  the  seventeenth  century. 
From  the  seventeenth  century  Cuba  has  escaped. 
To  her  we  shall  bring  order  and  relief.  Her  shackles 
(-nee  broken,  t  hen  we  shall  stay  our  hand.  To  ( Juba  Libre, 
independent  and  free,  we  will  leave  the  choice  of  her  own 
future. 

But  this  is  easier  said  than  done.  Cuba  Libre  has 
no  heart  or  will  to  choose.  Her  present  nominal  govern- 
ment is  not  that  of  a  republic.  It  is  a  political  oligarchy, 
which  has  its  seat  not  in  Havana,  but  in  New    York.  Cuba 

is  helpless  now.  As  a  republic  she  will  be  helpless  still. 
Spanish  blood  ami  Spanish  training  illy  prepare  a  land 
for  freedom.  Freedom  such  as  we  know  it  has  never  yet 
been    won    by    people   Of    Latin    blood.      The    freedom    of 


14 

Spanish  America  is  for  the  most  part  military  despotism. 
It  is  said  of  the  government  of  Russia  that  it  is  "  despot- 
ism tempered  by  assassination."  That  of  most  of  our 
sister  republics  is  assassination  tempered  by  despotism. 
Mexico,  the  best  of  them,  is  not  a  republic;  it  is  a  despot- 
ism, the  splendid  tyranny  of  a  man  strong  and  wise,  who 
knows  Mexico  and  how  to  govern  her,  a  humane  and 
beneficent  tyrant. 

There  are  many  noble  men  in  Cuba,  men  of  education 
and  character,  with  the  culture  and  bearing  of  gentlemen. 
Some  of  these  I  know,  and  one  I  have  been  proud  to  call 
my  friend,  Felipe  Poey,  during  fifty  years  professor  in  the 
University  of  Havana.  Most  good  men  in  Cuba  hope  for 
the  success  of  the  insurgents,  but  they  have  not  much 
confidence  in  Cuban  democracy.  The  common  run  of  the 
Cuban  population  is  of  a  very  different  class. 

li  The  Cuban  soldiers  at  Tampa,"  says  John  R. 
Rathom,  "  are  very  small,  excitable,  erratic,  physically 
unfit.  They  go  about  the  camps  brandishing  their 
machetes  and  telling  our  infantrymen  who  tower  above 
them  like  giants,  how  they  are  going  to  cut  the  Spaniards 
to  pieces.     Their  whole  spirit  is  one  of  frothy  boasting." 

There  are  three  things  inseparable  from  the  life  of 
the  Cuban  people  to-day,  the  cigarette,  the  lottery  ticket, 
and  the  machete.  These  stand  for  vice,  superstition  and 
revenge.  Above  these  the  thoughts  of  the  common  man 
in  Cuba  seldom  rise.  Most  of  the  people  cannot  read,  and 
those  who  can  read  largely  the  literature  of  vice. 

From  my  own  visit  to  Havana,  two  keen  recollections 
remain.  In  the  earlv  morning  the  markets  are  filled  bv  a 
long  procession  of  loaded  burros  who  came  down  from  the 
the  mountain  side.  These  bring  everything  that  is  eat- 
able, with  the  rest  live  pigs  and  sheep.  Pigs  and  sheep 
alike  are  tied  in  pairs  and  hung  saddle-wise,  head  down- 
ward, from  the  backs  of  the  donkeys.  From  two  until 
four  in  the  morning  the  long  procession  comes  in,  the  pigs 
lustily  squealing,  the  sheep  helpless    and    dumb.     But 


15 

nobody  cares  for  an  animal's  pain.  There  is  no  society 
for  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals  in  Cuba.  There  are 
not  many  who  could  understand  even  the  purpose  of  such 
a  society.  In  Havana,  bull-fights  follow  the  church  ser- 
vices, not  fights  but  slaughter.  A  horse  lame  and  blind 
is  ripped  up  by  an  infuriated  bull,  who  in  turn  is  done  to 
death  bv  the  stab  of  a  skillful  butcher. 

At  Christmas  time  all  interest  centers  in  the  lottery. 
Everybody  buys  lottery  tickets.  Charms,  fortune-tellers, 
astrology  and  all  the  machinery  of  superstition  are 
brought  into  play  to  select  the  lucky  numbers.  How 
many  days  old  am  I?  How  many  days  old  is  my  Dolores? 
How  many  days  old  was  I  on  my  lucky  day  when  I  drew 
the  prize  last  3-ear?  How  can  I  find  my  lucky  number? 
These  matters  are  talked  of  everywhere  on  the  streets,  in 
the  church,  in  the  wine  rooms,  in  the  theatres.  One  hears 
the  parrots  on  their  posts  at  the  gate  discussing  the  very 
same  questions.  The  birds  rattle  off  the  names  and  num- 
bers as  glibly  as  their  masters,  and  with  as  high  a  concep- 
tion of  the  possibilities  of  life. 

It  seems  probable  that  most  of  the  oppressed  people, 
crowded  from  their  homes  by  Weyler's  armies,  will  be 
dead  before  we  come  to  their  relief.  In  starving  out  Ha- 
vana we  shall  doubtless  starve  them  first.  Those  who 
survive  may  become  our  bitterest  enemies  before  the  year 
is  out.  For  these  people  prefer  the  indolence  of  Spanish 
rule  with  all  its  brutalities  to  the  bust  ling  ways  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon.  Many  of  them  would  take  their  chances 
of  being  starved  or  butchered  rather  than  to  build  roads, 
wash  their  faces  and  clean  up  their  towns.  To  suppress 
the  lottery  and  the  cock-fight  would  be  to  rob  them  of 
most  thai  makes  life  worth  living.  The  Puritan  Sabbath 
and  the  Belf-control  it  typifies  in  their  minds  would  be 
worse  than  the  flames  of  Purgatory.  Whether  as  a  free 
nation  under  our  protection  or  whether  governed  by  our 
martial  law,  it  will  be  no  easy  task  to  hold  the  peace  in 
Cuba  Libre.  The  down-trodden  Cuban  and  the  Spanish 
oppressor  are  the  same  in  blood,  the  same  In  method. 


16 

But  we  may  say  that  American  enterprise  will  change 
all  this.  It  will  flow  into  Cuba  when  Cuba  is  free.  It 
will  clean  up  the  cities,  stamp  out  the  fevers,  build  roads 
where  the  trails  for  mule-sleds  are,  and  railroads  where 
the  current  of  traffic  goes.  It  will  make  the  pearl  of  the 
Antilles  the  fairest  island  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

No  doubt  all  this  will  come  if  we  give  a  stable  gov- 
ernment. Whatever  else  we  say  or  do  we  must  give  such 
a  government.  The  nations  of  the  world  will  hold  us 
responsible  for  Cuba  through  the  years  to  come.  A 
virtual  serfdom  under  American  martial  law  is  the  fate  of 
Cuba,  though  we  may  declare  her  free  and  independent. 

Why  then  shall  we  not  hold  Cuba,  if  she  becomes 
ours  by  right  of  conquest?  Because  that  would  be  a 
cowardly  thing  to  do.  The  justification  of  her  capture 
is  that  we  do  not  want  her.  If  we  want  Cuba,  common 
decency  says  that  we  must  let  her  alone.  Ours  is  a  war  of 
mercy,  not  of  conquest.  This  we  have  plainly  declared 
to  all  the  nations.  Perhaps  we  meant  what  we  said, 
though  the  speeches  in  Congress  do  not  make  this  clear. 
If  we  can  trust  the  records,  our  chief  motives  were  three: 
Desire  for  political  capital,  desire  for  revenge,  and  sym- 
pathy for  humanity. 

It  was  desire  for  political  capital  that  forced  the  hand 
of  the  President.  "  The  war,"  says  Dr.  Frank  Drew,  "  did 
not  begin  as  an  honorable  war.  If  it  is  to  become  such, 
it  must  be  made  honorable  by  other  men  than  those  whose 
votes  committed  us  to  it.'" 

If  we  retire  with  clean  hands,  it  will  be  because  our 
hands  are  empty.  To  keep  Cuba  or  the  Philippines 
would  be  to  follow  the  example  of  conquering  nations. 
Doubtless  England  would  do  it  in  our  place.  The  habit 
of  domination  makes  men  unscrupulous. 

Professor  Nicholson  of  Edinburgh  has  said:  "  There 
can  be  no  question,  in  the  light  of  history,  that  the  polit- 
ical instinct  of  the  English  people— or  to  adopt  the  pop- 
ular language  of  the  moment,  the  original  sin  of  the 


17 

nation — is  to  covet  everything  of  its  neighbors  worth 
coveting,  and  it  is  not  content  until  the  sin  is  complete." 
No  wonder  England  now  pats  us  on  the  back.  We  are 
following  her  lead.  We  are  giving  to  her  methods  the 
sanction  of  our  respectability.  Of  all  forms  of  flattery, 
imitation  is  the  sincerest.  ' 

By  a  war  of  conquest  fifty  years  ago  we  took  from 
Mexico  her  fairest  provinces.  For  the  good  of  humanity 
we  did  it,  no  doubt,  and  along  the  lines  of  manifest  des- 
tiny. Brave  battles  our  soldiers  fought,  but  for  all  that, 
the  war  itself  was  most  inglorious.  So  it  reads  iu  history 
as  we  write  it  to-day.  It  is  iniquitous  in  history  as  writ- 
ten in  Mexico. 

Shall  then  the  war  for  Cuba  Libre  come  to  an  inglori- 
ous end?  If  we  make  auvthing  bv  it,  it  will  be  most  in- 
glorious.  It  will  be  without  honor  if  its  two  millions  a 
day  are  made  good  by  conquered  territory.  Neither  for 
conquest  nor  for  revenge  have  we  sent  forth  the  army  of 
the  Republic.  "  Let  us  beware,"'  says  .7.  K.  11.  Burgwin, 
"  of  placing  ourselves  in  the  position  of  doing  a  noble  and 
onerous  act  and  then  demanding  that  a  bankrupt  and 
humbled  enemy  shall  pay  our  expenses."  If  wo  are  going- 
hold  the  prizes  of  war  or  to  use  them  in  thrifty  trade 
we  should  never  have  set  out.  on  the  errands  of  humanity. 
The  nations  of  Europe  loot  with  jealousy  on  our  pos- 
sibilities of  strength.  "  If  I  only,"  some  king  may  say — 
"if  I  only  had  all  these  men,  all  this  land,  all  these  re- 
sources, I  would  eclipse  the  glory  of  Caesar  of  Charle- 
magne, of  Napoleon."  If  we  turned  everything  into 
fighting,  what  a  tight  we  could  make.  Bui  we  have  gone 
about  our  business,  a  vasl  nation  of  common  people,  care 
less  of  European  complications,  indifferent  to  European 
glory,  unconscious  of  our  power. 

For  the  end  of  government  by  the  people  is  to  lit  the 
people  to  control  their  own  affairs.  The  luisis  of  our  gov- 
ernment is  the  town  meeting.  The  people  manage  their 
local  business,  and  send  their  wisest  men  as  delegates  to 


18 

look  after  the  interests  of  the  nation.  This  was  the 
dream  of  the  fathers.  If  there  has  been  much  change  and 
some  degeneration,  yet  in  substance  the  thoughts  of  the 
fathers  prevail.  The  liberties  of  the  people  are  secure 
because  they  are  everywhere  in  the  people's  hands. 
America  is  not  a  power  among  the  nations.  She  is  a  na- 
tion among  the  powers.  A  "  power  "  is  a  country  which 
is  concerned  with  affairs  not  her  own  and  which  develops 
the  machinery  to  make  such  concern  effective.  A  nation 
minds  her  own  business. 

The  spirit  of  our  foreign  policy  has  been  to  avoid  all 
display  of  power.  It  was  set  forth  in  Washington's  fare- 
well address,  in  these  memorable  words: 

"  The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us  in  regard  to  foreign  nations  is,  in 
extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with  them  as  little  political  connec- 
tion as  possible.  *  *  *  Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests  which  to  us 
have  none  or  a  very  remote  relation.  Hence  she  must  be  engaged  in  frequent 
controversies  the  causes  of  which  are  essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence, 
therefore,  it  must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate  ourselves  by  artificial  ties  in  the 
ordinary  vicissitudes  of  her  politics  or  the  ordinary  combinations  and  collisions 
of  her  friendships  or  enmities.  Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invites  and 
enables  us  to  pursue  a  different  course.  *  *  *  Why  forego  the  advantages 
of  so  peculiar  a  situation?  Why  quit  our  own  stand  upon  foreign  grounds? 
Why,  by  interweaving  our  destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of  Europe,  entangle 
our  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  toils  of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest, 
humor,  or  caprice  ?  It  is  our  true  course  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliances 
with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world." 

The  America  of  which  Washington  dreamed  should 
grow  strong  within  herself,  should  avoid  entangling  alli- 
ances with  foreign  nations,  should  keep  out  of  all  fights 
and  all  friendships  that  are  not  her  own,  should  secure 
no  territory  that  might  not  be  self-governing,  and  should 
acquire  no  provinces  that  might  not  in  time  be  numbered 
among  the  United  States.  To  this  policy  his  followers 
closely  adhered.  Even  gratitude  to  France  never  made 
us  her  catspaw  in  her  struggle  against  England.  No  out- 
flow of  sympathy  has  caused  us  to  interfere  in  behalf  of 
Ireland  or  Armenia  or  (Jreece. 


19 

But  the  world  is  smaller  than  in  Washington's  day. 
Steam  and  electricity  have  bound  the  world  together. 
The  interests  of  one  nation  are  those  of  all  nations.  The 
interests  of  Armenia,  Cape  Colony  and  Ceylon  are  closer 
to  us  to-day  than  those  of  France  and  Germany  were  to 
our  fathers.  Traditions  are  worthy  of  respect  only  'when 
they  serve  the  real  needs  of  the  present.  So  it  may  be 
that  with  changed  conditions  the  wise  counsel  of  the  past 
may  be  open  to  revision.  Are  times  not  already  ripe  for 
a  change  in  national  policy? 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  policy  of  England. 
The  United  States  is  great  through  minding  her  own  busi- 
ness; England  through  minding  the  business  of  the  world. 
In  Norse  mythology  the  Mitgard  Serpent  appears  in  the 
guise  of  a  cat — a  feeble  creature  to  all  appearance,  but 
its  body  passes  around  the  world,  its  tail  growing  down 
into  its  own  throat  and  by  its  mighty  strength  it  holds 
the  world  together.  Such  is  England — the  Mitgard  Ser- 
pent of  the  nations,  the  assignee  of  bankrupt  lands,  the 
police  force  of  disorderly  ones.  By  the  power  of  her  will 
and  brain  she  has  made  this  an  Anglo-Saxon  planet. 

Xo  other  agency  of  civilization  has  been  so  potent  as 
England's  enlightened  selfishness.  Her  colonies  are  of 
three  orders — friendly  nations,  subject  nations  and  mili- 
tary posts.  The  larger  colonies  are  little  united  stales. 
They  are  republics  and  rule  their  own  affairs.  The  sub- 
j<  it  nations  and  the  military  posts  England  rules  by  a  rod 
of  iron  because  no  other  rule  is  possible.     Every  year 

England  seizes  new  posts,  opens  new  ports  and  widens 
the  Btretch  of  her  empire.  But  of  all  this  ( i real  or  Britain, 
England  herself  is  but  a  little  part,  the  ruling  head  of  a 
world  wide  organism,    "  Whal  docs  he  know  of  England 

who  only  England  knows."  No  doubt  as  Kipling  says, 
England 

"  thinkl   her  empire  still 

•Twixl  the  Strand  and  Kolborn  Hill." 


20 

but  the  Strand  would  be  half  empty  were  it  uot  that  it 
leads  outward  to  Cathay.  The  huge  business  interests  of 
Greater  Britain  are  the  guaranty  of  her  solidarity.  All 
her  parts  must  hold  together. 

In  similar  relation  to  the  Mother  Country,  America 
must  stand.  Greater  England  holds  over  us  the  obliga- 
tions of  blood  and  thought  and  language  and  character. 
Only  the  Saxon  understands  the  Saxon.  Only  the  Saxon 
and  the  Goth  know  the  meaning  of  freedom.  "A  sanc- 
tion like  that  of  religion,"  says  John  Hay,  "  enforces  our 
partnership  in  all  important  affairs."  Not  that  we  should 
enter  into  formal  alliance  with  Great  Britain.  We  can 
get  along  well  side  by  side,  but  never  tied  together. 
When  England  suggests  a  union  for  attack  and  defense, 
let  us  ask  what  she  expects  to  gain  from  us.  Never  yet 
did  England  offer  us  the  hand  in  open  friendliness,  in 
pure  good  faith,  not  hoping  to  get  the  best  of  the  bargain. 
This  is  the  English  government,  which  never  acts  without 
interested  motives.  But  the  English  people  are  our 
friends  in  every  real  crisis,  and  that  without  caring  over- 
much whether  we  be  right  or  not.  War  with  England 
should  be  forever  impossible.  The  need  of  the  common 
race  is  greater  than  the  need  of  the  nations.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  must  be  at  peace  within  itself.  Nothing  is  so 
important  to  civilization  as  this.  A  war  between  Eng- 
land and  America  fought  to  the  bitter  end  might  sub- 
merge civilization.  When  the  war  should  be  over  and 
the  smoke  cleared  away  there  would  be  but  one  left,  and 
that,  Russia. 

But  though  one  in  blood  with  England  our  course  of 
political  activities  has  not  lain  parallel  with  hers.  We 
were  estranged  in  the  beginning,  and  we  have  had  other 
affairs  on  our  hands.  We  have  turned  our  faces  west- 
ward, and  our  work  has  made  us  strong.  We  have  had 
our  forests  to  clear,  our  prairies  to  break,  our  rivers  to 
harness,  our  own  problem  of  slavery  to  adjust.  We  have 
followed  the  spirit  of  Washington's  address  for  a  hundred 
years,  until  the  movement  of  history  has  brought  us  to  the 


21 

parting  of  the  ways.  Federalism  or  Imperialism — which 
shall  it  be? 

In  the  direction  of  imperialism  we  have  already  taken 
certain  steps.  The  promulgation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
is  one  of  these.  Its  original  impulse  was  a  jealous  regard 
for  the  liberties  of  the  republics  of  Latin  America.  We 
make  no  objection  to  the  present  occupation  of  parts  of 
America  by  European  powers,  but  we  shall  prevent  by 
force  anv  extension  of  such  dominion.  The  cause  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  the  danger  to  republicanism 
through  monarchial  aggression.  AVith  the  republics  of 
America  our  interests  were  supposed  to  be  in  unison.  But 
our  real  interests  lie  now  in  other  directions.  We  have  a 
thousand  ties  binding  us  to  Europe  for  one  to  Latin 
America.  Even  Japan  and  China  are  more  to  us  than 
the  stains  of  South  America.  Moreover,  the  republics  we 
would  guard  are  really  only  republics  in  name.  They 
have  no  more  of  a  republican  spirit  than  has  Italy  or 
Spain,  and  vastly  less  than  England  or  Germany.  The 
aggressions  of  England  on  Venezuela  which  our  strong 
protest  prevented  were  really  in  the  interest  of  civiliza- 
tion. These  republics  hate  the  United  States,  her  peo- 
ple and  her  institutions.  They  resent  our  protection  and 
repe]  our  patronage,  and  as  for  us,  we  are  likely  to  des- 
pise i  hem  rather  than  to  love  them.  The  guardian  of  t  he 
two  Americas  must  use  a  strong  hand  if  it  would  save  all 
of  its  wards  from  barbarism. 

So  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  not  alone  a  willingness  to 
protect  our  sister  republics  from  European  aggression. 
It  must  become  a  means  of  holding  them  in  order.  So 
long  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  put  forth,  so  long  must  we 
be  in  some  degree  surety  for  the  good  behavior  Of  South 
America.      This  necessity   has  carried  us  away  from  OUT 

traditional  attention  to  our  own  affairs.     It   will  carry 
lis  siiil  further  unless  the  policy  be  reversed. 

The  purchase  of  Alaska  marks  another  movement 
away  from  self-government.  This  vast,  wild,  resourceful 
hind,  unfit  for  habitation  for  the  most  part,  unfit  for  self 


22 

control,  we  have  made  a  province  of  our  republic.  We 
have  placed  it  under  our  Hag,  but  the  flag  is  all  we  have 
given  it.  On  stretches  of  coast  as  long  as  that  of  Cali- 
fornia, dotted  with  fishing  villages,  the  United  States  has 
exercised  no  authority  whatever.  Over  the  whole  coast 
of  Alaska,  from  Sitka  to  Point  Barrow,  there  have  been 
only  scattering  and  sporadic  efforts  at  national  rule. 
With  a  population  so  weak  and  scattered,  self-govern- 
ment is  impossible,  and  we  have  no  other  form  of  govern- 
ment to  offer.  The  condition  of  Alaska  to-day  is  simply 
a  disgrace  to  us.  The  host  that  fare  to  the  Klondike 
make  their  own  government  as  they  go  along.  What  lit- 
tle government  Alaska  had  in  the  past  has  now  been 
mostly  withdrawn  on  account  of  the  war  with  Spain.  WTe 
need  the  patrol  vessels  for  coast  defense.  This  is  as 
though  we  sent  San  Francisco  police  to  garrison  Manila. 
In  public  affairs  we  can  never  attend  to  two  things  at  a 
time.  Considering  our  possibilities  and  our  intentions, 
we  have  treated  the  Aleutian  Islands  as  shabbily  as 
Spain  has  treated  Cuba,  and  Russia  has  almost  as  good 
a  right  to  protest  against  our  ways  as  we  have  to  protest 
against  those  of  Spain. 

This  difference  obtains.  The  natives  of  Alaska  are 
gentle  and  tractable  and  away  from  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
They  have  no  friends,  no  element  of  the  picturesque,  and 
our  cruelty  is  not  violence  but  neglect.  We  have  wan- 
tonly allowed  the  destruction  of  the  Sea  Otter,  their  chief 
means  of  subsistence.  We  have  wrasted  the  sea-lion  which 
furnishes  their  boats.  Starvation  and  death  are  every- 
where imminent  in  these  coast  settlements  of  Alaska,  and 
the  blame  for  it  rests  on  us.  "  Reconcentrados  "  between 
Arctic  snows  and  San  Francisco  greed,  the  Aleuts  must 
starve  and  freeze.  From  Prince  William's  Sound  to  Attu, 
nearly  fifteen  hundred  miles,  not  a  village  has  a  sure 
means  of  support  left  to-day. 

According  to  latest  reports  from  Port  Etches,  all  the 
people  of  the  village  live  together  in  the  cellar  of  an 
abandoned  warehouse.     Wosnessenski  was  starving  last 


23 

year.  In  Belkofski,  Morjovi,  Atka,  Attu,  and  a  half 
dozen  other  villages,  the  Company's  store  has  been  closed 
because  the  people  can  no  longer  pay  for  supplies.  Civ- 
ilization has  made  flour,  sugar,  tea  and  tobacco  necessi- 
ties of  life,  and  these  they  can  get  no  longer.  From,  St. 
Lawrence  we  hear  that  the  people  have  traded  all  their 
possessions  for  a  cargo  of  "  Florida  Water,"  which  is  a 
polite  name  for  raw  whiskey,  and  have  all  starved  to 
death  after  a  week  of  debauch. 

As  our  government  is  constituted  men  must  govern 
themselves  and  send  their  delegates  to  Congress.     For 
others  we  have  no  government  at  all.     The  great  corpora- 
tions in  Alaska  are  still  squatters  on  government  land, 
and  the  disputes  among  their  employees  must  be  settled 
by  blow  of  fist  or  they  are  not  settled  at  all.     Open  war- 
fare with  knife  and  gun  has  existed  more  than  once  along 
the  salmon  rivers.     This  is  not  the  fault  of  the  companies. 
They  are  law-abiding  enough    when    there  is  any  law. 
"  But  there  runs  no  law  of  God  nor  man  to  the  north  of 
fifty-three."     The  villages  of  Aleuts  and  Esquimaux  are 
ruled   by   the  Company   store-keeper,    and  the   Russian 
priest,  each  with  authority  unlimited  and  unsupported  by 
law.     The  staunch  laws  of  prohibition  by  which  liquor  is 
excluded  from  Alaska  cannot  enforce  themselves,  and  no 
other  adequate  force  is  provided.     The  whole  matter  is  a 
huge  farce,  and  its  necessary  result  is  contempt  for  Law. 
With  ;i  colonial  bureau  like  that  of  England,  the  prob- 
lems of  ruling  an  inferior  and  dependent  people  would  be 
simple  enough.    Such  a  bureau  could  take  cave  of  Alaska 
and  could  give  good  government  t<>  any  territory  over 
which  our  flag  may  float. 

Swell  a  bureau  we  must  have  Lf  Alaska  is  not  to  re- 
main a  matter  of  public  embarrassment.    Such  a  bureau 

could    operate    Hawaii    as   well.      Hawaii    cannot    govern 

itself  under  our  federal  forms.  It  is  an  oligarchy  in  the 
nature  of  things.  Under  colonial  management  it  would 
be  peaceful  and  prosperous.    The  more  it  had  to  do,  the 


26 

with  all  its  advantages  on  the  one  hand,  and  all  its  burdens  on  the  other.  It  is 
not  enough  for  it  to  vaunt  its  greatness  and  superiority,  and  call  upon  the  rest  of 
the  world  to  admire  and  be  duly  impressed.  Posing  before  less  favored  peoples 
as  an  exemplar  of  the  superiority  of  American  institutions  may  be  justified  and 
may  have  its  uses  ;  but  posing  alone  is  like  answering  the  appeal  of  a  mendicant 
by  bidding  him  admire  your  own  sleekness,  your  own  fine  clothes  and  handsome 
house,  and  your  generally  comfortable  and  prosperous  condition.  He  possibly 
should  do  that  and  be  grateful  for  the  spectacle,  but  what  he  really  asks  and 
needs  is  a  helping  hand.  The  mission  of  this  country,  if  it  has  one,  and  I  verily 
believe  it  has,  is  not  merely  to  pose,  but  to  act — and,  while  always  governing 
itself  by  prudence  and  common  sense  and  making  its  own  special  interests  the 
first  and  paramount  objects  of  its  care,  to  forego  no  fitting  opportunity  to  further 
the  progress  of  civilization  practically  as  well  as  theoretically  by  timely  deeds  as 
well  as  by  eloquent  words.  There  is  such  a  thing  for  a  nation  as  a  'splendid 
isolation  ' — as  when,  for  a  worthy  cause,  for  its  own  independence,  or  dignity,  or 
vital  interests,  it  unshrinkingly  opposes  itself  to  a  hostile  world.  But  isolation 
that  is  nothing  but  the  shirking  of  the  responsibility  of  high  place  and  great 
power  is  simply  ignominious." 

"  The  doors  to  that  '  shining  destiny '  are  open  wide,"  says  a  late  writer  in 
the  San  Francisco  Chronicle.  "Shall  the  Nation  pass  them  or  shall  it  shrink 
back  into  itself  and  leave  to  other  and  braver  hands  the  prizes  of  the  future. 
To  broaden  out  in  the  field  of  enterprise  and  acquisition  is  the  duty  of  the 
Kepublic,  to  strengthen  itself  whenever  it  safely  can,  to  do  its  part  in  redeeming 
the  victims  of  ignorance  as  well  as  of  cruelty,  to  gather  to  itself  the  riches  that 
will  free  it  from  debt,  and  make  its  influence  paramount  in  the  world's  affairs  as 
the  greatest  part  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  brotherhood  ;  to  plant  itself  in  the  midst  of 
events,  and  mold  them  to  its  mighty  purpose." 

Such  is  the  dream  of  American  imperialism.  Its 
prizes  lie  in  our  hands  unasked.  The  fates  have  forced 
them  upon  us.  But  before  we  seize  them,  now  let  us  ask 
what  it  will  cost?  First,  it  will  cost  life  and  money  in 
rich  measure.  Kipling  tells  us  the  cost  of  British  Ad- 
miralty: 

We  have  fed  our  sea  for  a  thousand  years, 

And  she  calls  us  still  unfed, 

Though  there's  never  a  wave  of  all  her  waves 

But  marks  our  English  dead. 

We've  strewed  our  best  to  the  weeds'  unrest, 

To  the  shark  and  the  sheering  gull ; 

If  blood  be  the  price  of  admiralty 

Lord  God !  we  have  paid  it  in  full. 


27 

There's  never  a  flood  goes  shoreward  now 
But  lifts  a  keel  we  have  manned  ; 
There's  never  an  ebb  goes  seaward  now 
But  drops  our  dead  on  the  sand  ; 
But  slinks  our  dead  on  the  strand  forlore 
From  the  Ducies  to  the  Swin  ; 
If  blood  be  the  price  of  admiralty, 
Lord  God  !  we  have  paid  it  in. 

We  must  feed  our  sea  for  a  thousand  years 

For  that  is  our  doom  and  pride, 

As  it  was  when  they  sailed  with  the  golden  Hind, 

Or  the  wreck  that  struck  last  tide  ; 

Or  the  wreck  that  lies  on  the  spouting  reef, 

When  the  ghastly  blue-lights  flare: 

If  blood  be  the  price  of  admiralty, 

My  God,  we  have  paid  it  fair. 

If  we  have  a  navy  that  can  make  history  we  must 
pay  for  it  as  England  does,  not  only  in  blood  but  in  cold, 
hard  cash.  This  means  more  taxes,  heavy  taxes,  more 
expenditures,  more  waste.  It  means  the  revision  of  our 
tax  laws,  a  tariff  for  revenue  only  with  every  element  of 
protection  for  American  industries  squeezed  out  of  them. 
The  government  will  need  all  it  can  get.  We  must  man- 
age our  colonies  that  they  may  yield  revenue.  We  must 
cherish  commerce  as  we  have  tried  to  cherish  manufac- 
ture, and  we  must  cherish  manufacture  and  agriculture 
through  commerce.  Much  more  of  a  navy  we  need  to 
preserve  ourselves  from  imbecility.  One  victory  like  that 
of  .Manila  may  save  us  from  a  dozen  insults,  aud  we  must 
liave  the  means  to  win  such  victories. 

So  far  this  would  not  be  unmixed  evil,  perhaps  no 
evil  at  all.  But  we  must  go  farther.  Imperialism  de- 
mands the  maintenance  of  a  standing  army  large  enough 
to  cany  out  whatever  we  undertake.     We  must  wholly 

Change  <>ur  pension  laws  and  deal  with  the  veteran  on  a 
basis  of  business  not  of  sentiment.  Imperialism  leaves  no 
place  for  sent  iii ient  in  public  affairs.     To  maintain  strong 

armies  the  nations  of  continental  Europe  sacrifice  every- 
thing else     The  people  arc  leaded  with  armor  till  they 


cannot  rise,  and  they  dare  not  throw  it  off.  Even  to-day 
Italy  is  on  the  verge  of  a  revolution,  and  the  cause  is  the 
cost  of  the  army.  The  Italian  proverb  says  that  if  one 
throws  a  stone  from  a  window  it  will  hit  a  soldier  or  a 
priest,  and  the  farmer  pays  for  both. 

The  whole  world  must  become  the  range  of  our  in- 
terest.  We  must  make  every  American's  house  his  castle 
from  Kamchatka  to  Kerguelen.  We  must  be  quick  to 
revenge  and  strong  to  bluff.  We  must  never  fight  when 
the  issue  is  doubtful  and  never  fail  to  fight  if  there  is  a 
point  to  be  gained.  We  must  give  up  our  foolish  notion 
that  America  is  big  enough  to  maintain  a  separate  basis 
of  coinage,  a  freeman's  scale  of  wages,  a  peculiar  repub- 
lican social  order  different  from  that  of  the  rest  of  man- 
kind. We  must  open  our  own  doors  as  we  would  push 
open  the  doors  of  the  world.  We  must  change  the  char- 
acter of  our  diplomacy.  We  must  make  statecraft  a  pro- 
fession. Hitherto  we  have  sent  out  our  embassadors  be- 
cause to  do  so  is  the  fashion  among  nations,  not  because 
we  have  anything  for  them  to  do.  Hereafter  they  must 
go  out  to  spread  American  influences.  The  plain,  blunt, 
effective  truth-telling  of  our  present  diplomacy  must  give 
way  to  the  power  to  carry  our  point.  We  must  not  send 
men  to  foreign  countries  because  we  do  not  want  them  at 
home.  The  dull  incompetence  of  our  consular  service 
must  give  way  to  a  system  of  trained  agents.  And  this, 
too,  has  its  compensating  reactions.  As  our  foreign  ser- 
vice is  made  effective  it  will  become  dignified.  This  will 
help  our  relations  abroad  because  foreign  nations  judge 
us  by  the  quality  of  our  representatives. 

Our  government  must  be  changed  for  our  changing 
needs.  We  must  give  up  the  checks  and  balances  in  our 
constitution.  It  is  said  that  our  great  battleship  Oregon 
can  turn  about  end  for  end  within  her  own  length.  The 
dominant  nation  must  have  the  same  power.     She  must 


29 

be  capable  of  reversing  her  action  in  a  minute,  of  turning 
around  within  her  own  length.  This  "  our  prate  of  sta- 
tute and  of  state  "  makes  impossible.  We  shall  receive 
many  hard  knocks  before  we  reach  this  condition,  but  we 
must  reach  it  if  we  are  to  "  work  mightily  "  in  the  affairs 
of  the  world.  If  we  are  to  deal  with  crises  in  foreign 
affairs  we  must  hold  them  with  a  steadier  grasp  than  that 
with  whidh  we  have  held  the  Cuban  question.  We  can- 
not move  accurately  and  quickly  under  the  joint  leader- 
ship of  a  conservative  and  steady-headed  President,  a 
hysterical  or  venal  Senate  and  a  House  intent  upon  its 
own  re-election.  That  kind  of  checks  and  balances  we 
must  lay  aside  forever.  As  matters  are  now,  President, 
Senate  and  House  check  each  other's  movements  and  the 
Stale  falls  over  its  own  feet. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  is  the  expres- 
sion of  the  transient  will  of  the  people,  so  hemmed  in  by 
checks  and  balances  that  positive  action  is  difficult  what- 
ever the  will  of  the  majority  for  the  moment  may  be. 
This  is  the  government  for  peace  and  self-defense,  but  not 
for  aggression.  The  government  of  England  expresses 
the  permanent  will  of  the  intelligent  people  with  such 
(hecks  as  shut  out  ignorance  ami  control  incompetence. 
The  nation  and  not  the  individual  man  is  the  anil  in  ils 
actions. 

Towards  the  English  system  we  must  approach  more 
and  more  closely  if  we  are  to  deal  with  foreign  affairs  in 
large  fashion.  The  town-meeting  idea  must  give  way  to 
centralization  of  power.  We  must  look  away  from  our 
own  affairs,  neglect  them  if  you  please,  until  the  pressure 
of  growing  expenditure  forces  us  to  attend  to  them  again, 
ami  to  attend  to  them  more  carefully  than  we  ever  yel 
have  done.  Good  governmenl  at  home  must  precede 
-ood  governmenl  of  dependencies.  One  reason  England 
is  governed  well  is  thai  misgovernmenl  anywhere  on  any 


30 

large  scale  would  be  fatal  to  her  credit  and  fatal  to  her 
power.  She  must  call  her  best  men  to  her  political  ser- 
vice, because  without  them  she  would  perish. 

It  may  be  that  the  choice  of  imperialism  is  already 
made.  If  so,  we  shall  learn  the  lesson  of  dominion  in  the 
hardest  school  of  experience.  That  we  shall  ultimately 
learn  it  I  have  no  doubt,  for  ours  is  a  nation  of  apt  schol- 
ars. We  shall  hold  our  own  in  war  and  diplomacy,  we 
shall  tie  the  hands  of  turbulent  nations  and  seize  the 
assets  of  bankrupt  ones,  and  we  shall  teach  the  art  of 
money-making  to  the  dependent  nations  who  shall  be  our 
wards  and  slaves. 

Some  great  changes  in  our  system  are  inevitable,  and 
belong  to  the  course  of  natural  progress.  Against  them  I 
have  nothing  to  say.  Whatever  our  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world  we  should  play  it  manfully.  But  with  all  this  I 
believe  that  the  movement  toward  broad  dominion  so  elo- 
quently outlined  by  Mr.  Olney,  would  be  a  step  down- 
ward. It  would  be  to  turn  from  our  highest  purposes  to 
drift  with  the  current  of  manifest  destiny.  It  would  be 
not  to  do  the  work  of  America,  but  to  follow  the  ways  of 
the  rest  of  the  world.  I  make  no  plea  for  indifference  or 
self-sufficienecy  or  isolation  for  isolation's  sake.  To  shirk 
from  world  movements  or  to  drift  with  the  current  is 
alike  unworthy  of  our  origin  and  destiny.  Only  this  I 
urge;  let  our  choice  be  made  with  open  eyes,  not  at  the 
dictates  of  chance  disguised  as  "  Manifest  Destiny." 
Unforgetting,  open-eyed,  counting  all  the  cost,  let  us 
make  our  decision.  Let  ours  be  sober,  fearless,  prayer- 
ful choice.  The  federal  republic— the  imperial  republic 
— which  shall  it  be? 

There  are  three  main  reasons  for  opposing  every  step 
toward  imperialism.  First,  dominion  is  brute  force;  sec- 
ond, dependent  nations  are  slave  nations;  third,  the  mak- 
ing of  men  is  greater  than  the  building  of  empires. 


31 

As  to  the  first  of  these:  The  extension  of  dominion 
rests  on  the  strength  of  arms.  Men  who  cannot  hold 
town  meetings  must  obey  through  brute  force.  In 
Alaska,  for  example,  our  occupation  is  a  farce  and  scan- 
dal. Only  force  can  make  it  otherwise.  Only  by  force 
can  the  masses  of  Hawaii  or  Cuba  be  held  to  industry  and 
order.  To  furnish  such  power,  we  shall  need  a  colonial 
bureau,  with  its  force  of  extra-national  police.  A  large 
army  and  navy  must  justify  itself  by  doing  something. 
Army  and  navy  we  must  maintain  for  our  own  defense, 
but  bevond  that  thev  can  do  little  that  does  not  hurt,  and 
they  must  be  used  if  they  would  be  kept  alive.  Even 
warfare  for  humanity  falls  to  the  level  of  other  wars,  and 
all  wars  according  to  Benjamin  Franklin,  are  bad,  some 
worse  than  others.  The  rescue  of  the  oppressed  is  only 
accomplished  by  the  use  of  force  against  the  oppressor. 
The  lofty  purposes  of  humanity  are  forgotten  in  the  joy  of 
struggle  and  the  pride  of  conquest. 

The  other  reasons  concern  the  integrity  of  the  Repub- 
lic itself.  This  was  the  lesson  of  slavery,  that  no  republic 
can  "  endure  half  slave  and  half  free."  The  republics  of 
antiquity  fell  because  they  wen*  republics  of  the  few  only, 
for  each  citizen  rested  on  the  backs  of  nine  slaves.  A 
republic  cannot  be  an  oligarchy  as  well.  The  slaves  de- 
stroy the  republic.  Whenever  we  have  inferior  and  de- 
pendent races  within  our  borders  to-day,  we  have  a  politi- 
cal problem — "the  Negro  problem,"  "the  Chinese  prob- 
lem," "  the  Indian  problem."  These  problems  we  slowly 
solve.  Industrial  training  and  industrial  pride  make  a 
man  of  the  Negro.  Industrial  interest  may  even  make  a 
man  of  the  Chinaman,  and  the  Indian  disappears  as  our 
civilization  touches  him. 

Bui  in  the  tropics  such  problems  arc  perennial  and 
insoluble.  Cuba,  Manila,  Nicaragua,  will  be  slave  terri- 
tories for  centuries  to  come.    These  people  in  such  a  cli- 


32 

mate  can  never  have  self  government  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
sense.  Whatever  form  of  control  we  adopt,  we  shall  be 
in  fact  slave-drivers,  and  the  business  of  slave-driving 
will  react  upon  us.  Slavery  itself  was  a  disease  which 
came  to  us  from  the  British  West  Indies.  It  breeds  in 
the  tropics  like  yellow  fever  and  leprosy.  Can  even  an 
imperial  republic  last,  part  slave,  part  free? 

But  England  endures,  and  her  control  of  slave  terri- 
tories is  her  "  doom  and  pride."  What  then  of  British 
imperialism?  From  the  standpoint  of  imperialism  Eng- 
land is  an  oligarchy,  not  a  republic.  Her  government  is 
not  self-rule,  but  the  direction  of  commerce.  It  is  admi- 
ralty rather  than  democracy.  Americans  govern  them- 
selves. Englishmen  are  ruled  by  the  government  of  their 
own  choosing.  Englishmen  govern  themselves  in  mu- 
nicipal affairs,  and  in  ways  from  which  we  have  much 
to  learn.  In  foreign  affairs  their  huge  governmental  ma- 
chine, backed  by  the  momentum  of  tradition,  is  all-power- 
ful. This  rules  Ireland,  India,  Gibralter,  Egypt,  all  Eng- 
land's dependencies  and  wards.  The  other  colonies  are 
republics  in  fact.  Canada,  New  Zealand,  the  states  of 
Australia — these  are  republics  bound  to  keep  the  peace 
with  the  mother  country,  but  in  no  other  way  controlled 
by  her.  Only  ties  of  sentiment  bind  Canada  to  England. 
In  all  practical  matters,  she  is  one  with  the  United  States. 

The  stronger  the  governmental  machine,  and  the 
more  adjustable  its  powers,  the  better  the  government. 
But  government  is  not  the  main  business  of  a  republic. 
If  good  government  were  all,  democracy  would  not  de- 
serve half  the  effort  that  is  spent  upon  it.  For  the  func- 
tion of  democracy  is  not  to  make  government  good.  It 
is  to  make  men  strong.  Better  government  than  any 
republic  has  yet  enjoyed  could  be  had  in  simpler  and 
cheaper  ways.  The  automatic  scheme  of  competitive 
examination  would  give  us  better  service  at  half  the 


33 

present  cost.  Even  an  ordinary  intelligence  office,  or 
statesman's  employment  bureau  would  serve  us  better 
than  conventions  and  elections.  Government  too  good 
as  well  as  too  bad  may  have  a  baneful  influence  on  men. 
The  purpose  of  self-government  is  to  intensify  individual 
responsibility,  to  promote  attempts  at  wisdom,  through 
which  true  wisdom  may  come  at  last.  The  republic  is  a 
huge  laboratory  of  civics,  a  laboratory  in  which  strange 
experiments  are  performed,  but  by  which,  as  in  other 
laboratories,  wisdom  may  arise  from  experience,  and  once 
arisen  may  work  itself  out  into  virtue. 

t. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  government  "  which  is  best 
administered  is  best."  That  is  the  maxim  of  tyranny. 
That  government  is  best  which  makes  the  best  men.  In 
the  training  of  manhood  lies  the  certain  pledge  of  "better 
government  in  the  future.  The  civic  problems  of  the 
future  will  be  greater  than  those  of  the  past.  They  will 
concern  not  the  relation  of  nation  to  nation,  but  of  man 
to  man.  The  policing  of  far-off  islands,  the  maintenance 
of  the  machinery  of  imperialism  are  petty  things  beside 
the  duties  which  the  higher  freedom  demands.  To  turn 
to  these  empty  ami  showy  affairs,  is  to  neglect  our  own 
business  for  the  gossip  of  our  neighbors.  Such  work  may 
be  a  matter  of  necessity;  it  should  not  be  a  source  of 
pride.  The  political  greatness  of  England  has  never  lain 
in  her  navies  nor  the  force  of  tier  arms.  It  lias  lain  in  her 
struggles  for  individual  freedom.  Not  .Marlborough  nor 
Nelson  nor  Wellington  is  iis  exponent.  Let  us  say  rather 
Pym  and  Hampden,  and  Gladstone  and  Bright.  The  real 
problems  of  England  have  always  been  at  home.  The 
pomp  of  imperialism,  the  display  of  naval  power,  the 
commercial  control  of  India  and  China,  all  these  are  as 
the  "  bread  and  circuses"  by  which  the  Roman  emperors 
held  the  mob  from  their  thrones.  They  keep  the  people 
busy  ami  pni  off  the  day  of  final  reckoning.  "Gild  the 
dome  of  i he  [nvalides,"  was  Napoleon's  cynical  command, 


34 

when  be  learned  that  the  people  of  Paris  were  becoming 
desperate. 

The  people  of  England  seek  blindly  for  a  higher  jus- 
tice, a  loftier  freedom,  and  so  the  ruling  ministry  crowns 
the  good  queen  as  "  Empress  of  India."  Meanwhile,  the 
real  problems  of  civilization  develop  and  ripen.  They 
care  nothing  for  the  greatness  of  empire  nor  the  glitter 
of  imperialism.  They  must  be  solved  by  men,  and  each 
man  must  help  solve  his  own  problems.  The  develop- 
ment of  republican  manhood  is  just  now  the  most  im- 
portant matter  that  any  nation  in  the  world  has  on  hand. 
We  have  been  fairly  successful  thus  far,  but  perhaps  only 
fairly.  Our  government  is  careless,  wasteful,  and  unjust, 
but  our  men  are  growing  self-contained  and  wise. 
Despite  the  annual  invasion  of  foreign  illiteracy,  the  in- 
dividual intelligence  of  men  stands  higher  in  America 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The  bearing  of  the 
people  at  large  in  these  days  is  a  lesson  in  itself.  I 
watched  the  crowds  around  the  bulletin  boards  the  other 
night  in  San  Francisco.  These  men  were  laborers,  for 
the  most  part,  loafers  some  of  them,  not  as  a  whole  be- 
longing to  the  favored  classes.  But  they  did  not  form  a 
mob.  They  were  there  as  so  many  individuals.  They 
did  not  lose  their  heads.  They  kept  the  bearing  and  the 
reserve  of  gentlemen.  I  saw  no  rowdyism,  no  disorder, 
no  raw  enthusiasm.  The  war  news,  false  or  true,  pla- 
carded on  the  walls,  was  exciting  in  its  nature,  but  the 
men  were  not  excited;  they  were  ready  to  act  when  the 
time  came  for  action.  They  gave  no  vulgar  display  of 
sentiment  when  action  was  impossible.  Compare  the  be- 
havior of  the  American  people,  in  this  and  other  trying 
times,  with  that  of  the  masses  of  any  other  nation,  and 
we  see  what  democracy  has  done.  And  we  shall  see  more 
of  this  as  our  history  goes  on.  Free  schools,  free  ballot, 
free  thought,  free  religion — all  tend  to  enforce  self-reli- 


35 

ance,  self-respect,  and  the  sense  of  duty,  which  are  the 
surest  foundation  of  national  greatness. 

An  active  foreign  policy  would  slowly  change  much 
of  this.     The  nation  which  deals  with  war  and  diplomacy 
must  be  quick  to  act  and  quick  to  change.    It  must,  like 
the  Oregon,  be  able  to  reverse  itself  within  its  own  length. 
To  this  end,  good  government  is  a  necessity,  whether  it  be 
self-government  or  not.     Democracy  jields  before  diplo- 
macy.    Republicanism  steps  aside  when  war  is  declared. 
"An  army,"  said  Wellington,  "  can  get  along  under  a  poor 
general.     It  can  do  nothing  under  a  debating  society." 
In  war  the  strongest  man  must  lead,  and  military  disci- 
pline is  the  only  training  for  an  army.     In  a  militant 
nation  the  same  rules  hold  in  peace  as  in  war.     We  can- 
not try  civic  experiments  with  a  foe  at  our  gates.     A  foe 
is  always  at  the  gates  of  a  nation  with  a  vigorous  foreign 
policy.     The  British  nation  is  hated  and  feared  of  all  na- 
tions except  our  own.     Only  her  eternal  vigilance  keeps 
the  vultures  from  her  coasts.     Eternal  vigilance  of  this 
sort  will  strengthen  governments,  will  build  up  nations; 
it  will  not  in  like  degree  make  men.    The  day  <>f  the  na- 
tions as  nations  is  passing.     National  ambitions,  national 
hopes,  national  aggrandizement — all  these  may  become 
public  nuisances.      Imperialism  like  feudalism  belongs  to 
tin*  past.     The  men  of  the  world  as  men,  not  as  nations, 
are  drawing  closer  and   closer  together.     The  needs  of 
commerce  are  stronger  than  the  will  of  nations,  ami  the 
final  guarantee  of  peace  ami  good  will  among  men  will 
!»••  noi  ••  the  parliamenl  of  nations,"  Imt  the  self-control  of 
men. 

Bui  whatever  the  outcome  of  the  present  war,  what- 
ever the  fateful  twentieth  century  may  bring,  the  primal 
duty  of  Americans  is  never  to  forgel  that  men  are  more 
than  nations;  thai  wisdom  is  more  than  glory,  and  virtue 
more  than  dominion  of  the  sen.    The  kingdom  of  <!"<l  is 


3G 

within  us.  The  nation  exists  for  its  men,  never  the  men 
for  the  nation.  "  The  only  government  that  I  recognize,'' 
said  Thoreau,  "  and  it  matters  not  how  few  are  at  the 
head  of  it  or  how  small  its  army,  is  the  power  that  estab- 
lished justice  in  the  land,  never  that  which  establishes 
injustice."  And  the  will  of  free  men  to  be  just  one  toward 
another,  is  our  best  guarantee  that  "  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth." 

God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old — 

Lord  of  our  far-flung  battle  line — 
Beneath  whose  awful  Hand  we  hold 

Dominion  over  palm  and  pine — 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget  ! 

The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies — 

The  captains  and  the  kings  depart — 
Still  stands  Thine  ancient  Sacrifice, 

An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget ! 

Far-called  our  navies  melt  away — 

On  dune  and  headland  sinks  the  fire — 
Lo,  all  our  pomp  of  yesterday 

Is  one  with  Nineveh  and  Tyre  ! 
Judge  of  the  Nations,  spare  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget ! 


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